Valentine's Masquerade
by Goldbryn Callow Lyte
Summary: DG decides to throw a huge Valentine's Day Masquerade Ball and Cain is just itching to join the dance. Glitch/Cain slash


Hope you all enjoy my fic!!!!!

This was posted first and foremost to the GlitchWyatt JiveJournal Community for their Valentine's Day Contest!

"Valentine's Ball"

The ball was in full swing by the time Cain had arrived. He had purposefully dragged his feet as long as possible in hopes of arriving on the dance's downswing.

He had been very mistaken.

The atmosphere was heady with excitement of both the new and unheard of.

Princess DG was the one who situated this extravagant ball and she had made it mandatory for all to attend. It was to celebrate some rather odd custom or holiday that was practiced on the Other Side.

Something called Valentine's Day.

The courtiers and palace staff wove around each other in almost mindless bliss. Cain watched them all distractedly, trying to see if he noticed anyone, but found that was harder than anticipated.

DG had decided to make this mass celebration into an all night masquerade and not a single person was admitted in with _severe_ dress clothes and a mask. There had been a large selection of hand-made masks there if you didn't have one, but to even get in as an officer, a mask was needed. And having been so late, Cain was completely lost as to who was who.

Dresses were large and extravagant, glittering and shimmering in the golden lights that washed across the dance floor. The suits and tuxes that the many male guests were wearing were also shining in the bright lights. Glitter and confetti littered the hardwood floor and streamers of golds, reds, pinks, and whites flowed over head, wrapping, glittering, around the crystal chandeliers and hanging from the walls.

Cain grimaced behind his mask at the colors. It was all too…romantic for his taste. Maybe it was because he was there alone.

Sighing, he made his way from against the wall and headed towards a large table covered in sugary sweets, cakes, and copious amounts of punch, wine, and champagne. He had thought of trying to remain in the corner, silently watching the dancers for anything odd…but with everyone practically in costume he couldn't tell the Queen and Ahamo from any other couple twirling and whirling around on the dance floor.

Resigning himself to dodging the slightly tipsy and rather gregarious party goers, he slipped behind the large table and grabbed a glass of wine.

He watched the throng of people in the center of the ballroom, dancing around one another like figurines in a music box. The music currently playing was a beautiful and fast waltz that had hair fanning, dresses belling out, arms grasping, and mouths parting into wide and amused grins.

Something fluttered in his chest and he had the sudden urge to join in, but catching site of himself in one of the mirrored walls that lined the room, he promptly killed that feeling and crushed it under foot.

His suit had been custom made by one of the OZ's most prestigious tailors and he would be hard pressed to say he enjoyed wearing it. It was black (as if he'd wear any other color) with a high collar, silver clasps running across his chest and matching piping bordering the top of the collar, down the lapel, and his cuffs as well. The silver clasps held sparkling red jewels that were also present on his cufflinks. The cut of the suit was form fitting and sleek, coat tails falling behind him, lined in deep red silk. The sight of him so decked out would be a bit more disconcerting, if it wasn't for the mask that hid his identity so well.

It was black as well, fitting over the bridge of his nose and fitting his face almost eerily well. He was sure there was some kind of magic on most of the masks—especially the ones provided by DG and her sister. He saw a few masks producing small sparkling showers of light that seemed to just bead off the hair or the one who was wearing it. A few more it seemed changed people's hair or eye colors to match what they were wearing or what their mask looked like.

His didn't have any blatant magic on it, but he was sure when he tilted his head a certain way, his hair looked like it had red in it.

Perhaps it was just the lights.

Looking around again at all the dancing people, he once again tried to see if he could recognize anybody.

Mainly, he was seeing if he could recognize Glitch. He was sure that such an elegant party would have the headcase dancing through the crowd so gracefully and wonderfully that the very dancers would part.

But there was no sign of such a commotion.

Cain drained his wine and placed the glass on the end of the table, adjusting his mask as he started off around the perimeter of the room.

The music was thrumming in his skull, the beat and the notes making their way into every nerve of his body. People were smiling, laughing, holding one another…kissing one another…Cain was finding it very hard to concentrate on being a tin man. The very atmosphere seemed to shift with the music, becoming livelier and demanding more participation. A few random ladies interrupted his walk around the ballroom, inquiring if he'd like to dance, giggling behind their hands, enchanted eyes sparkling in mirth. He had politely declined the first few, but after a while the music had gotten into him and he accepted the next dance request just needing to get out onto the floor.

He spun the young woman out onto the dance floor, leading her into the waltz without much thought except for the music and his steps. They spun together, getting lost in the way everyone seemed to move with them, but not once did Cain wonder who he was dancing with. The steps, the movement—they weren't _his._ And with this knowledge he continued through the song, his eyes roaming the floors hoping to catch a glimpse of that deadly movement that he found so attractive.

Cain blinked. What an odd thought.

It was the lights, and the music, and the sweet smell of roses in the air. That's what was making him feel like this—that, or the wine.

He sped up their dance, eyes still roving the floor, unable to bring himself to stop. When he was sure that he was about to go mad, the music slowed to a tinkling halt and the courtiers and guests applauded graciously to both the musicians and their partners. Bowing lowly, the woman he had been dancing with smiled brightly, winked, and turned to disappear into the crowd.

He watched her go, wondering why she seemed so familiar, but then realized that another song had started and he was partner-less. Caught slightly off guard, he turned and tried to remove himself from the rotating mass of people, only to be stopped when someone grabbed his hand.

Turning around he stared at whoever had grabbed him and was met with a pair of chocolate eyes and a pair of smirking lips.

"Care to dance?" he asked in a soft voice, not waiting for an answer before he drew Cain back into the middle of the dance floor. Cain watched his new partner warily, wondering briefly if it was who he thought it was. But it couldn't be. This man's hair was lighter than Glitch's, but that could have been helped with magic from his mask. It was also combed back neatly, and had beautiful green tints that shimmered as they moved under the lights. And there was no zipper.

Cain found he couldn't keep his eyes off the man's masked face, and it was making his stomach do flip flops. His mask was white where his was black, and was bordered in gold filigree, framing his face with swept back gold and white feathers. He was wearing a cream colored, high necked vest and underneath it was a beautiful white peasant shirt. His pants were the same rich cream colored, and like the vest, had gold embroidery accenting each piece.

And as they spun, Cain caught sight of himself and his partner in one of the mirrors and he saw how good the young man looked in his fitted pants.

Cain mentally groaned. It_ had_ to be the atmosphere…this…this _holiday._

After a long moment of not really paying attention to the dance, he suddenly realized that he was no longer leading, and the lanky man in front of him was pulling him closer, spinning him faster.

He looked into those deep eyes in slight surprise, and was answered with a playful smirk. Cain tried to take the lead again, but found that the man would not relinquish his hold. They spun faster, moving against one another as though they were of one mind…one body…One soul…

Cain's eyes widened as the music swelled and he felt himself completely flush with his partner, moving frantically together as the song finished off with a flourish of trilling flutes and the resounding applause from the crowd.

But Cain didn't hear any of it. His eyes were locked with the man in his arms, his stomach churning warmly as those deep chocolate eyes locked with his. His mystery dancer smiled warmly, lifting his arms to wrap them around Cain's neck as the music started up again.

It was a slow song this time, and Cain, surprised as he was, let his hands fall to his companion's waist. He was allowed to lead this time, and the other man followed diligently, leaning closer than Cain would have normally been comfortable with. But this man somehow felt right in his arms…and that made Cain a bit uneasy.

They danced to the music for what seemed forever, neither speaking to one another. They spun slowly, both seemingly oblivious to the world around them. That was, of course, until there was no music and only loud applause coupled with someone speaking. It took Cain a very long minute to drag his eyes away from his partner and look up where the orchestra had been playing.

A rotund man in a very ornate suit was blathering on about the masquerade, the long feathers in his mask shaking merrily as his talk got more animated.

But regardless of this, Cain still never really knew what he was saying. It wasn't until he was noticing that people were removing their masks, laughing and smiling as they saw who they were dancing with, that he realized what was going on.

Warm fingers were suddenly on the side of his face, tracing his cheeks to his ears to the back of his head, where thin fingers found the ties to his mask and pulled.

The mask slid down, whatever magic had been connected with it leaving. Cain smiled softly and reached up to do the same.

He'd see who this man was now, and maybe find the reason he made him feel so…funny.

His fingers curled in soft honey colored hair as he pulled the tie out, allowing the white mask to come off in his hands.

Light hair faded into dark brown, a hint of silver glistening underneath the neat hair, and Cain found himself looking down at Glitch whose smirk had turned into a full blown smile. The lights around them seemed to explode, midnight had struck, and even more confetti and glitter showered the cheering, toasting, kissing crowd.

Cain's heart leapt into his throat, his whole body warming at the bright smile across the headcase's face. Without much thought, without much pretense or warning, Cain dropped the mask in his hand unceremoniously and reached for Glitch. Fingers tangled in dark hair, holding him as Cain's lips sought out his. Lips crushed against one another, teeth clinked, and tongues fought for dominance.

Glitch's hands wrapped themselves securely around Cain's waist, trying to keep them as close together as humanly as possible.

When they finally parted it was with the realization that the ball was ending, and people were slowly vacating the dance floor. Cain looked into the deep eyes that had stared at him so fiercely from behind the mask, and saw that his eyelashes had caught some of the pink glitter on them.

"So Tin Man," Glitch smiled brightly yet again, his eyes dancing. "I finally got you to dance with me."

Cain laughed and brushed some glitter and confetti out of Glitch's hair. "Ya know all you had to do was come over and ask me."

"What? And be made a fool of if I found out you really did have no rhythm?" His laugh was soft and playful. Cain scoffed and gave him a good punch in the arm, but Glitch still refused to relinquish his hold.

"You're lucky I have a thick hide. Any lesser man would have taken that as an insult."

Glitch leaned forward and brushed his lips against Cain's.

"Yes. I do think I am quite lucky."

And he caught Cain's lip fully this time, nibbling at the tin man's lower lip before kissing him as deep and as thoroughly as he was allowed to do in public view.

They parted again, but this time to a few well placed cat calls and whistles.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Sweetheart."

The smile on Glitch's face could have lit up the entire room had the chandeliers still not been blazing. "Happy Valentine's Day Tin Man."


End file.
